Merkel Slams U.S. Spying, 14 Shot Dead in Chicago This Weekend, Pink Floyd Is Back: P.M. Links

• 

  World Economic Forum

  "If the allegations are true, it would be for me a clear contradiction as to what I consider to be trusting cooperation between agencies and partners," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel regarding the alleged American spy within Germany's intelligence agency.

• The latest tally is 14 fatalities out of 82 people shot. No, it's not Syria or Ukraine, it's Chicago's Independence Day weekend. How's that gun control working out for you?
• Did you see that crazy video of the California cop straddling and pummeling a woman on the side of the highway? Her family is filing a lawsuit against the law enforcement agency.  
• Israel is mobilizing 1,500 troops in response to rising tensions with Palestine's Hamas, which fired dozens of rockets across the border today. 
• The United Nations will recognize gay marriages of its staffers. Previously, it only recognized such marriages if the staffer's nation recognized them.
• Pink Floyd is releasing a new album. Dim the lights, take a hit, and try synchronizing it with some classic cinema until you blow your own mind.

Follow Reason and Reason 24/7 on Twitter, and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

...said German Chancellor Angela Merkel regarding the alleged American spy within Germany's intelligence agency.

You know who else...

[Rich]

Captain Renault?

[Monkey's Uncle]

+1 Usual Suspect in Casablanca

[MJGreen]

+Your winnings, sir.

[Monkey's Uncle]

Oh, thank you, very much. Everybody out at once!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Did you see that crazy video of the California cop straddling and pummeling a woman on the side of the highway? Her family is filing a lawsuit against the agency.

Ponch might have to pay out on this one.

[Mad Scientist]

More likely, I'll have to pay out while Ponch gets a week's paid vacation.

[perlhaqr]

Did you see that crazy video of the California cop straddling and pummeling a woman on the side of the highway?

Nope, blood pressure is high enoguh already.

[CE]

But she refused a direct order! What do you think would happen?

[Injun, as in from India]

If the allegations are true, it would be for me a clear contradiction as to what I consider to be trusting cooperation between agencies and partners," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel regarding the alleged American spy within Germany's intelligence agency.

Countries spy on each other, including their own allies? And this is a surprise to Merkel?

[Tonio]

She's shocked, shocked, do you hear...

[Sudden]

She's really just mad that Julian Green is ours now.

[Pro Libertate]

Nice goal, huh?

[Los Doyers (prev. RannedPall)]

Meh. I was kind of disappointed in the quality of US goals this World Cup. Many of them seemed like they were bungled in, rather than placed to a post. Except for Jones' goal vs Portugal, that was a screamer.

[Sudden]

C'mon, the Julian Green goal was a mid-air first touch of the world cup strike from a perfectly placed Bradley pass. It was certainly worthy of being considered a good goal.

Just a damn shame that the set piece that freed Demsey didn't result in the equalizer.

[Rich]

Which one's Pink?

[gaijin]

The one named Monica?

[RBS]

You do a line and I'll do a line honey. You do a line and I'll do a line babe. You do a line and I'll do a line, we'll fight and screw till the morning time.

[Warty]

Oh god I love the little asshole. I can't wait for him to play in a super bowl, throw 5 touchdown passes in the first half, and get arrested at halftime for running a cocaine and call girl ring.

[Ted S.]

The Browns are never getting to the Super Bowl.

[Sudden]

I took them there twice today

[CE]

2 words: Johnny Football.

[RBS]

He's already the most entertaining guy in the league. There was an article a couple of weeks ago about him being a hypocrite for saying he didn't want his name on the media all the time then going out and partying with Justin Bieber. I'm pretty sure what Manziel actually meant was "shut the fuck up and leave me alone", not "I'm sorry I offended your delicate sensibilities."

[Pro Libertate]

First time I've heard the preseason called the Super Bowl.

[Warty]

Like either is possible.

[Brandon]

It is the Browns.

[Pro Libertate]

Here's my prediction: Manziel disappears. Isn't arrested, doesn't do anything, just vanishes and is never heard from again. After one start.

However, in a shocking development, Lebron James becomes the starting QB for the Browns, leads them to the playoffs with great promise for next year, then leaves to play for the Dolphins.

[Warty]

Gilbert Gottfried is sorry

The next time you hear a joke that offends your gentle sensibilities, I want you to ask yourself this simple question: What would Pamela Anderson do? Do you have the same emotional maturity as somebody with gigantic fake breasts whose main cultural contribution is running in slow motion on the beach? Can you take a joke better than, or at least as well as, Pamela Anderson?

[Ted S.]

Gilbert Gottfried wins the thread.

[Overt]

Ahhhh- Playboy article. NWhile the article doesn't show nudity, the ads running on either side might raise some eyebrows.

[Warty]

If you work with tightassed sexophobes and don't hover over links before you click on them, you deserve to get fired. And if you hover over a playboy.com link, still click on it, and get fired, you deserve to crash your car and die on your way home from being fired.

[The Original Jason]

Then use ad blocking software!

[Heroic Mulatto]

That's apropos considering that Joan Rivers is the latest target of the Two Minutes Hate for committing the crime of L?se-majest? against our God-Kings. Check out this hatchet job by CNN that no one in the government had a hand it setting up. Really. Pinky swear!

[Warty]

It's amazing, isn't it? Good thing for Anthony that it was just some random black woman who punched him in the face, not the Wookie.

[Ted S.]

CNN is sucking Obama's dick so hard that they might well have set it up without asking anybody in the government for help.

[Warty]

What's the difference?

[SusanM]

I might give a crap if she'd been relevant since the Carter Administration and hadn't shown herself to be a desperate attention whore hawking cheap jewelry on QVC. Then again, I might not.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I do agree that Rivers has a bit of the desperate attention whore to her, yes. That makes the reaction against here even more disproportional and even more pathetic.

[Heroic Mulatto]

*against her

[SusanM]

I think that's coming more from the Obamabot crowd than anything else. While I'm a little ticked that she still plays with the "gay = insult" stuff, she is, after all, a relic of the 70's and it's understandable.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I don't believe the insult was as much that Obama was gay as much as Michelle's physique is rather "manish". I mean she made a late-stage career out of being the sassym adorable to gays, Jewish woman sidekick to Blackwell's catty fashion critique crew. She knows which side of her bread is buttered, and it's the camp side.

[SusanM]

There's that, too. I mean she'd just mock-officiated at a lesbian wedding a couple days prior. And crummy QVC jewelery is a mainstay of the hypercloseted CD crowd.

[Tonio]

Some gays, Heroic, some gays.

[MJGreen]

Ma'am! I know you're a comedian, but you were talking about... (hushed tone) the President. And his wife!

[SusanM]

Dunno. I think this commenter in the article has the right of it

It doesn't make any sense to stand on a soapbox like Twitter, say crazy stuff, then act surprised that people react. Someone like Brad Pitt doesn't use Twitter, and you never hear him complaining about the "age of apology" or "the PC thought police". Because it's a two-way street. You get the freedom of interacting directly with your fans, but they can interact right back. You can't have it both ways anymore

[Heroic Mulatto]

I disagree. Even if the outrage of the Offenderati were genuine, the point of transgressive comedy is that it occurs in a specific context in which the participants agree that in this place and time it's ok to joke about this, it's ok to slaughter this sacred cow. For someone who was not a participant to intellectually mau-mau a comedian/comedienne is just heckling vy proxy. And unlike the context of a comedy club, the comedian can't defend him or herself against the heckler through wit. Secondly, these "activists" get off on the sensation of power they receive when they force a celebrity to mumble a half-hearted apology. It can be quite lucrative, too. Bill Donahue of the Catholic League and Abe Foxman of the ADL have made whole careers out of it.

[SusanM]

Secondly, these "activists" get off on the sensation of power they receive when they force a celebrity to mumble a half-hearted apology.

I think you're reading way too much into that. Ok, there will always be those trying to make a name off of someone else's controversy but I don't see it as being as deep or broad as you want to believe.

As for the rest? Well, if you're going to set out doing transgressive comedy then people will be offended. Why this comes as a shock to transgressive comedians is beyond me. If they publicly complain about a negative response then either they're entitled little shits who genuinely think that they can offend but not be offended themselves or they're calculating businesspeople trolling for some publicity for the anti-PC police crowd.

[Heroic Mulatto]

they're calculating businesspeople trolling for some publicity for the anti-PC police crowd.

A comedian is a professional troll. We have a winna!

[SusanM]

So, I've blinded you with the obvious, have I?

[Aloysious]

Nice alt-text, Zenon.

[Drake]

I read the headline as Merkel shot 14 people dead in Chicago because we spied on her. Stop before she kills us all!

[Ted S.]

She'll probably shoot 14 people if the corrupt FIFA refs hand the game to Brazil tomorrow.

[Drake]

As long as they are soccer fans that's okay.

[Pro Libertate]

We sure seem worried about the Germans. I mean, I get some intelligence-gathering about our allies, but it seems like we've crossed some lines with it. Might be better to spy on, I dunno, the Russians or one of those Middle Eastern nations.

[Wasteland Wanderer]

You know who else thought it would be better to spy on the Russians?

[mr lizard]

General Patton ?

[Stormy Dragon]

It's still not clear to me why Merkel's shooting rampage brought Pink Floyd out of retirement. Did they know one of the victims?

[Pro Libertate]

We are all victims of the Germans.

[Monkey's Uncle]

. . . as held for the price of a few hundred ordinary lives . . .

[CE]

2 were shot by cops.

[Injun, as in from India]

The latest tally is 14 fatalities out of 82 people shot. No, it's not Syria or Ukraine, it's Chicago's Independence Day weekend. How's that gun control working out for you?agency.

This is clearly the fault of MacDonald v Chicago. What part of guns cause violence do you not understand? /sarc just to be clear.

[Rich]

It's obviously time for checkpoints. No one in or out of Chicago without being strip-searched.

[Injun, as in from India]

Throw in a gratuitous cavity search, just to make sure no one smuggles ammo.

[The Last American Hero]

This is exactly what Chicago PD said when asked what the difference is between Chicago and New York.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/...../12287053/

[Rich]

Mayor Rahm Emanuel has made reducing violence a top priority for his administration.

Apparently that's "fucking retarded".

[Rhywun]

Yeah, gangbangers in NYC solve their differences with a soft punch to the shoulder.

[Pro Libertate]

How many were shot with licensed firearms?

[Injun, as in from India]

What do you mean, "licensed"? All firearms are bad, mmmkay?

[Zeb]

Or guns purchased at the (nonexistent) Chicago gun shops.

[CE]

All the articles I saw referenced Chicago's "soft" gun control laws. Even though they are the most restrictive in the country.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Previously, it only recognized such marriages if the staffer's nation recognized them.

I can't imagine too many will remain staffers for certain countries that don't recognize it.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Did you see that crazy video of the California cop straddling and pummeling a woman on the side of the highway? Her family is filing a lawsuit against the agency.

In a just world, the second officer that ran up would have pulled the first cop off and pummeled him.

[Hyperion]

More like the other cop bought him rounds after the beating and they high fived each other all evening.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

I am surprised the officer didn't see the person filming him, chase that car down and arrest the driver.

[Hyperion]

He was out of donuts and had to make another run to dunkin donuts. Also, he just heard on the scanner that there were dogs to shoot over on the next block. Hard choices, you know.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Our heroes in blue really do have it tough. Increase their pensions and lower retirement to 35.

[Hyperion]

Look, Merkel, you're looking old and haggard and your tits are not nearly as full and bouncy now, so bugger off, you old hag.

/The USA

My gawd, she looks near to death in that photo. What have those perverted krauts done to her?

[Tonio]

Being the top guy/gal takes its toll. Look at pre-inauguration Carter versus ex-prez Carter. Etc.

[Ted S.]

Speaking of old and haggard...

[Hyperion]

Ahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!! My...... eyeessss!!!!!! Arghhhhh!!!!!!!

Don't click on that fellow reasonoids, don't click....

[Ted S.]

David Thompson is a natinoal treasure, albeit not of our nation.

[Rich]

PSA: NSFW

But whose mother *is* that?

[Ted S.]

Epi's, I think.

[Fist of Etiquette]

How's that gun control working out for you?,/i

It's the thought that counts.

[Tonio]

How dare you make fun of this? /proggie

[Injun, as in from India]

it's the thought that counts.

Now playing John Lennon's overplayed "Imagine" song.

[Palin's Buttplug]

"The Endless River" features band members David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Richard Wright, who died in 2008. Roger Waters, who left the group in 1985, is not involved.

Half of Pink Floyd then. Digging up old unreleased stuff is still great for real fans but I'll pass.

[Hyperion]

Aren't you supposed to be finding some lost emails, retard?

[Palin's Buttplug]

They'll show up. Bush's 22 million lost e-mails did right after he left office.

[Hyperion]

I would have never guessed that something about Bush would be your excuse.

[cavalier973]

^^I laughed

[Restoras]

It isn't sentient. It is merely a random collection of long discarded progtard talking points that are randomly spewed back at those that engage it. So don't.

[Andrew S.]

I just can't ignore it. It's not in my nature.

[Heroic Mulatto]

And the Scorpion says, "That's the point, sucka!"

[Trouser-Pod]

Well, maybe this is more appropriate.

[Paul.]

The latest tally is 14 fatalities out of 82 people shot. No, it's not Syria or Ukraine, it's Chicago's Independence Day weekend. How's that gun control working out for you?

Exactly as designed I'd reckon.

[Aloysious]

Pink Floyd is releasing a new album. Dim the lights, take a hit, and try synchronizing it with some classic cinema until you blow your own mind.

After a twenty year wait, I am comfortably numb.

[Restoras]

I am going to run like hell.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

I am going to have a cigar to celebrate.

[Monkey's Uncle]

Meanwhile, I'll set the controls for the heart of the sun.

[Cytotoxic]

Uber, Lyft ignore Ann Arbor's cease and desist demand; no tickets issued following city's orders

http://www.mlive.com/business/.....rs_ce.html

[Tonio]

Nice. I love when corporations tell municipalities to stuff it.

[JW]

Uber and Lyft bans might be the one thing that will get the proglodytes to look up from their New Yorker magazines long enough for a clue to register, in between their cleansing yoga classes.

[Overt]

I've been trolling the FB people saying "Man, imagine if my doctor and insurance companies used a service like Uber?"

[Pro Libertate]

"Cleansing yoga?" Is that yoga with enemas? The future sure is weird.

[perlhaqr]

Shit yeah, dude. Yoganema is the bomb, yo.

Kinda messy during downward dog, though.

[Paul.]

Well, my guess is it's the drivers that'll be stuck in the pokey overnight if they start enforcing.

[DaveSs]

The latest tally is 14 fatalities out of 82 people shot. No, it's not Syria or Ukraine, it's Chicago's Independence Day weekend. How's that gun control working out for you?

For the record:
Chicago basically has no gun control any more.
Illinois state level laws are basically all thats in effect.

That being said, guns ain't the problem.

Oh and we had a CCW shooting this weekend too.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/.....4984.story

[Cytotoxic]

Chicago basically has no gun control any more.

LOLWUT? Does the 'record all gun transactions on camera' bylaw not count anymore?

[DaveSs]

When I say that, I mean that they eliminated their most onerous restrictions: A mandatory 'training' class, city firearm permit, and annual registration of all your firearms with of course the annual fee for each firearm you had to register.

They also cannot (legally) hassle out of towners for possessing unregistered firearms in the city.

Yes, they still have their 15rd magazine limit, laser sight ban, and AWB, but arguably those restrictions only apply to long guns since handguns are preempted by the State.

[GILMORE]

I'd say with 14 dead, some at least control them fairly well.

Its really failure of People Control, isn't it?

because it seems like millions of people in the US are able to pass through a holiday weekend without shooting up their own neighborhoods, but Chicago? Not so much?

[Paul.]

The progressives are working on People Control. It's really their top platform right now. Respect.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Cameron Diaz frolics in bikini with freak-ass b/f. (NSFW)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....63574.html

[Drake]

Why would I want to see Cameron Diaz pictures?

[Sudden]

In fairness to shriek, he does accurately refer to her as having a freak-ass.

[Ted S.]

Needs more tattoos.

[Paul.]

Who's the white supremacist she's with?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Clearly all those Chicago shootings will stop once the city council forces the few remaining gun stores out of business.

[Restoras]

Or, the city just needs to pass a law confiscating all firearms. If you do that, then everyone, including the criminals, won't have guns to commit gun violence with.

[CE]

Or they could try ending Prohibition again. Worked last time in Chicago.

[Cytotoxic]

Netanyahi should be flogged in public for failing to destroy Hamas in 2012 like he should have. It was an absolute failure and a moral stain on the Israelo government not to totally annihilate any threat to Israel years ago.

[kinnath]

I spend less time at H&R because of assholes like you. I suppose that means you're winning.

[Lord Peter Wimsey]

Do us all a favor. Spend even less time here. When Hamas murders some Jewish babies we'll send you the links and you can add the images to your spank bank.

[kinnath]

Don't recognize this handle. But you did manage to out trump cytotoxic. Good for you.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Which Itamar Massacre links do you want to send? The 2001 massacre or the 2011 one?

[Tonio]

"Spank bank...."

Now there's some honest, informed discussion right there.

How's that apologism working out for you?

[Cytotoxic]

Yup.

[JW]

I spend less time at H&R because of assholes like you.

Reasonable is your friend.

[kinnath]

Work computer, can't run reasonable.

[Suthenboy]

Yeah? So spend less time still.

Fuck Hamas. If it were up to me I would exterminate the whole lot of savages. I would track every goddamn one down and kill them.

[kinnath]

Thanks for sharing.

[Sudden]

It is possible to consider Hamas a vile organization while still harboring significant critiques of Isreali polict towards the Palestinian territories.

[Tonio]

Yes, in the universe which I live, but not in the Israel-first universe which Cyto and others inhabit.

[Tonio]

Unapologetic genocidal fantasies? REally?

[perlhaqr]

Hamas is a genotype?

[Tonio]

English, motherfucker, learn it.

[Cytotoxic]

He understands it. You apparently don't understand what 'genocide' is and/or have shitty reading comprehension skills.

[Tonio]

He wrote "genotype" which is different than "genocide". Genotype is not applicable to the current discussion, although I'm open to an explanation from perlhaqr.

Now, as to you, Cyto, you very clearly displayed reading comprehension fail above. Do try to keep up, and remember that tantrums are no excuse for reasoned discourse.

[Tonio]

...tantrums are no substitute for reasoned discourse.

[Cytotoxic]

Hamas isn't a race you twat.

[Tonio]

I would venture that Hamas is 99% Arab. Which does not mean that all Arabs are Hamas supporters, or palestinians, or even muslims.

So, duly noted that he was talking about a subset of palestinian arabs who are (unwillingly) citizens of Greater Israel. Still, he wants to kill them all including the people in the non-military wings. And while you may legitimately question, as I do, the motives of the social-services wings of Hamas, you can't deny the relief services they provide to palestinians displaced by Israel.

[Tonio]

Also, the ability of Israel to commit genocide on arabs outside their borders is, shall we say, limited.

[Tonio]

Don't give in, kinnath. You won't win an open argument with them, but you can continue to annoy and dishearten them

They will never permit an open, honest discussion about the history of that area, but you can annoy them by simply reminding them that not everyone agrees with them.

Remember when it wasn't even permitted to talk about the Israel lobby in USA? Times are changing, albeit slowly.

[Cytotoxic]

Pffft AHAHAHAHHA

Actually, we're the ones who pursue honest discussion. It's been the Israel-haters that make up lies and BS (Jenin 'massacre'). This board has changed in our favor because we win. Because we know what we're talking and we have the moral upper hand. We're not disheartened. I for one am emboldened.

Remember when it wasn't even permitted to talk about the Israel lobby in USA?

Remember that period of time that never existed? No I don't, and neither does anyone else who isn't demented.

[Tonio]

Please do link to where I've ever mentioned the word "Jenin". Don't even know what/where that is.

Yes, there was a time when you couldn't even use the phrase "Israel lobby" without people like you going apeshit and calling one an anti-semite. Embarrassing for you, yes, but it was real.

[Cytotoxic]

I was merely using the 'Jenin massacre' as an example of one the lies aimed against the great nation of Israel.

Yes, there was a time when you couldn't even use the phrase "Israel lobby" without people like you going apeshit and calling one an anti-semite. Embarrassing for you, yes, but it was real.

Hmmm...I could treat this credibly...or dismiss it as more bullshit. Yeah Imma do that.

[Tonio]

IOW, you got nothing. You got called-out on putting words in my mouth and that didn't turn out so well for you, so now you're walking away.

[Tonio]

Oh, and a little present for you, Cyto:

A 2006 Harvard Kennedy School of Government essay by David Gergen, entitled There is No Israel Lobby with bonus points for the shock quotes around "lobby".

[Heroic Mulatto]

Please, you're talking like Obama wouldn't have pounced upon that. For fucks sake, dual-citizen Naftali Frankel was abducted and murdered and no one from the Department of State mumbled even a syllable. Tariq Abu Khdeir, visiting from Florida, who thought it was a good idea to participate in a riot, was beat up and the State Department delivers a strident and belligerent mau-mauing. As they should, if an American citizen is assaulted by the armed forces of any country it's the job of the State Department to ask questions; however, it's also their job to ask questions when, you know, an American citizen is abducted and found murdered.

[Cytotoxic]

So what? That's the part where Netanyahu tells the prez do kiss his ass. If he can't handle it he can saunter off and mope like Kinnath has.

[Tonio]

No, for an example of conveniently quitting the argument when things start to go against you, this: "Hmmm...I could treat this credibly...or dismiss it as more bullshit. Yeah Imma do that."

Except "petulant" instead of "mope".

Cheers.

[Lord Peter Wimsey]

^^^^THIS (Cytotoxic).

Hamas lives by a simple formula:

babies + chainsaw = erection

They'll name a football stadium after the savages who murdered those three teens. Israel will prosecute the guys who murdered the palestinian kid to the fullest extent of the law. Difference?

[Injun, as in from India]

Israel is a country with a conscience.

[Los Doyers]

And i quote Irish yet again, "They're the least offensive country in the middle east." Let's not pretend that Hamas will ever want peace with Israel. I mean, their intentions are conveyed so clearly in their charter where they call for Israel's obliteration.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Have you actually read the Hamas Charter? There is so much hilariously crazy shit in it. In Art. 22, they invoke the fucking Illuminati:

For a long time, the enemies have been planning, skillfully and with precision, for the achievement of what they have attained. They took into consideration the causes affecting the current of events. They strived to amass great and substantive material wealth which they devoted to the realisation of their dream. With their money, they took control of the world media, news agencies, the press, publishing houses, broadcasting stations, and others. With their money they stirred revolutions in various parts of the world with the purpose of achieving their interests and reaping the fruit therein. They were behind the French Revolution, the Communist revolution and most of the revolutions we heard and hear about, here and there. With their money they formed secret societies, such as Freemasons, Rotary Clubs, the Lions and others in different parts of the world for the purpose of sabotaging societies and achieving Zionist interests. With their money they were able to control imperialistic countries and instigate them to colonize many countries in order to enable them to exploit their resources and spread corruption there.

The Rotary Club. And these are the lunatics that our diplomats have to sit down and talk to as if they were sane people.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Source

[PapayaSF]

Amusing.

[Mark22]

Who cares? Neither Israel not Palestine are our business. The Middle East is a mess created by Europe; let them fix it.

[PapayaSF]

I see nothing wrong with being friends with friendly democracies, especially ones that stand up against our mutual enemies, the Islamic fanatics.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Must be all the effect of all those Jewish mother's and their guilt trips.

[Tonio]

Countries don't have consciences, Hiawatha.

[kinnath]

The power to cause pain is the only power that matters, the power to kill and destroy, because if you can't kill then you are always subject to those who can, and nothing and no one will ever save you.

[Pro Libertate]

Well, it's confession time, for I, too, failed to destroy Hamas.

[Mad Scientist]

Get with the program, Pro L. Even Hitler at least tried to exterminate a group or two. If you haven't at least tried, well, that makes you worse than Hitler.

[Pro Libertate]

It's re-education camp time for me for sure.

[110 Lean]

Israel is mobilizing 1,500 troops in response to rising tensions with Palestine's Hamas, which fired dozens of rockets across the border today.

Hamas kidnaps and kills three Israeli teens. Some thugs kill a Palestinian boy. Therefore, Israel is bad.

[Drake]

Don't forget:

Israel investigates murder and makes arrests. Hamas helps hide killers.

[Tonio]

That's called cherry-picking, 110 Lean. Basically, it's got to the point where neither side is good or pure. But do continue to pretend that Israel, somehow, has the moral high ground in this.

[Cytotoxic]

Where's the cherry-picking? Why not just get straight to your false equivalence? You should bullshit faster.

[Tonio]

How's that screeching in place of reasoned discourse working out for you, Cyto? Not very well, I see...

[Cytotoxic]

This is Shriek-level discourse on your part. Where's the cherry-picking again? Do simple questions come across as screeching? You should probably get that look at.

[Tonio]

You gonna walk-back that "Jenin" thing you hurled at me, Cyto?

[Tonio]

Yeah, cherry-picking. Because after seventy-odd years of the palestinians trying to rid themselves of the foreign invaders, and the israelis being all invadery and stuff there are no longer any good guys or bad guys.

There are still people who want their land back. And there are still land-grabbers whose claims were supported and financed by the US government.

And that historical reality is really, really inconvenient for you.

Honest question, Cyto: Do you believe that the restoration of the (Hebrew) temple is necessary to bring about the second coming, or whatever?

[PapayaSF]

Because after seventy-odd years of the palestinians trying to rid themselves of the foreign invaders, and the israelis being all invadery and stuff there are no longer any good guys or bad guys.

Nonsense. As part of decolonization, the Middle East was partitioned into countries. Jews got a tiny sliver. Many Jew traditionally lived there or nearby. Many of the ones who lost their land in neighboring countries moved there. Jews in Israel are not "foreign invaders." Why do you think there's an area traditionally called "Judea"?

"Good" and "bad" guys are relative. Pure good and evil are rare. But there's no question which side is, on average, far better than the other. Hint: it's not the side with Jew-haters, America-haters, and believers in Islam.

[Tonio]

I love how on a libertarian site the actions of a favored nation-state are consistently excused.

[GILMORE]

" A fresh Pink Floyd album is on the way... based on 1993-94 recording sessions"

Sounds legit.

Rogers Waters is still not involved

I think anyone who actually liked the band's songs actually gets more out of his stuff anyway.

[Mad Scientist]

Division Bell was an awful album, and these are the leftover recordings that were even worse. No thanks.

[GILMORE]

this is my point. Roger Waters continued to make good music. No one noticed. "Pink Floyd" went on to become a touring laser-light show & cover-band.

Now the laser-light show is re-releasing the last noises they made 20 years ago. Ones which no one particularly liked enough at the time to actually release.

The Return of the Messiah, it aint.

[Cytotoxic]

Was Pink Floyd ever good?

[kinnath]

The wall had its moments.

[GILMORE]

Animals, WYWH, Dark Side, most of Meddle.

yes. any way you slice it.

Its not everyones cup of tea, sure. But its better music from an objective standpoint than... oh, Genesis.

[The Tone Police]

Uh, remember that Cyto considers JJ Abrams's Star Trek to be like, the world's finest cinema or some happy horsehit.

[GILMORE]

""JJ Abrams Star Trek"

I tried to watch that recently. I stopped when they had the young kirk stealing a corvette (to AC/DC?). yeah, I got nauseous.

[Heroic Mulatto]

to AC/DC?

It was "Sabotage" by the Beastie Boys.

[Pro Libertate]

Are you kidding? Young Kirk in Space couldn't have anything awesome like AC/DC in it.

[Cytotoxic]

AC/DC...isn't very good.

[Pro Libertate]

Truly, you have no taste at all. Were you raised in the Yukon?

[cavalier973]

Maybe you'd prefer this short, 2 minute review of the movie by Mr. Plinkett.

[Cytotoxic]

Well it is the only good Star Trek ever made.

[JW]

I generally use his tastes to calibrate my Galactically Retarded Taste meter.

[Warty]

What? I can't rely on the aesthetic judgments of a 100 pound Canadian Objectivist chickenhawk???

[Cytotoxic]

I have never expressed bad taste in anything on H&R ever. I dare you to find an instance of me doing so. Just try.

[Pro Libertate]

You just did. Up above. Praising Hardtrekkies.

[Cytotoxic]

You're...still clinging to your old boring shitty Shatner-can't-act Trek? Really? Do you enjoy being bored by bad writing and worse acting?

[Pro Libertate]

How a Canadian can turn on the Shat is beyond me. I bet that's a capital offense in Canada. Well, at least in Quebec.

[Cytotoxic]

How anyone can possibly like Shat is beyond me. He's a shitty actor. His coworkers didn't even like him.

[JW]

100 pound Canadian Objectivist Virgin chickenhawk

[Warty]

I was about to protest that he might have seen a vag in the wild, but...no. You're right.

[toolkien]

Well, pre-pop or post-pop Genesis? I'd put Genesis' musical ability well beyond anything that Pink Floyd could do. And Peter Gabriel knew how to be whimsical. When Pink Floyd left their psychedelic phase behind, we got "everyone's an asshole and it's driving me crazy" parts I,II,III,IV,V,VI... it got old.

But I dig both bands overall. Both were Art Rock bands, Genesis a Prog Rock Band while Pink Floyd was more of a Space Rock band. Genesis was made up of very talented musicians who made some very fine music. Pink Floyd got deeply into the sonics and creating unique soundscapes. But they weren't the best musicians as musicians ever.

But both ran out of vital musical ideas and have milked their names for a few decades.

[GILMORE]

This is why no one likes Genesis, or Genesis fans

[Mad Scientist]

Dark Side of the Moon, Animals, and Wish You Were Here are masterpieces.

[Overt]

There is no better song than Shine on you Crazy Diamong Pt 1 on a long road trip in the middle of the night. Indeed, WYWH continues to be the album I go to when any trip is going long and I need something to wake my mind up again.

[Pro Libertate]

Wish You Were Here is the one I still like. The others, with some exceptions have faded for me. Not that I was ever a huge Floyd fan, but I like them okay.

[SweatingGin]

Meddle for me, I can listen to that start to finish multiple times in a row (without chemical aid)
Wish You Were Here is a favorite.
Animals has *really* grown on me a lot.

[Warty]

Animals is an amazing piece. I can take or leave everything else by them, except I never want to hear anything from The Wall for the rest of my life.

[JW]

except I never want to hear anything from The Wall for the rest of my life.

I make an exception for Comfortably Numb. But the rest of the album can pound sand.

[Restoras]

I'll have to try this, will get back to you 7/20.

[Square]

1966-1971

[Mad Scientist]

I figured that was your take and felt compelled to pile on with my additional disdain (and disappointment).

[db]

Sounds like it.

[jesse.in.mb]

Joan Rivers DGAF (Trigger warning: direct link to auto-play video)

After being asked about the U.S.'s likelihood of having either a woman or a gay president[*] in the near future, Rivers replied, "We already have that with Obama. You know Michelle is a tranny."

The unidentified journalist tries to clarify, asking, "I'm sorry. She's a what?"

"A transgender," Rivers replies. "We all know."

Pearl-clutching ensues (of course).

*This was a dumb question because everyone knows that James Buchanan was gayer than a tree full of monkeys on nitrous oxide.

[Drake]

Old Buck didn't make much effort to hide it.

[Winston]

DGAF?

[Rich]

Gesundheit!

[jesse.in.mb]

Doesn't Give A Fuck.

[Atanarjuat]

Ah. I'd say she's skilled at getting her name into the press.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

So does that make it homophobic to say that Buchanan was our worst antebellum president?

[jesse.in.mb]

No, he was a terrible president and what's worse is that he was a terrible president in part because of his relationship with William Rufus King.

I just don't want people running around saying we need "the first gay president" and just picking whoever is conveniently available, like Barney Frank. We can take our time and pick someone better because gays beat everyone but WASP hetero men to office by almost 100 years.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Elect this guy - his fur coat is fabulous!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wi.....ropped.jpg

[Winston]

William Rufus King

Gay slaveowning Southern Democrat, does he count as privileged or not?

[jesse.in.mb]

I dunno, we should run him through Buzzfeeds quiz on the great chain of grievance being. I wonder if being sent to mid-19th-century France counts as a mark for or against privilege.

[Ted S.]

Transgressive art is only supposed to transgress against certain people.

[Fist of Etiquette]

This seems racist. Like, outhouse racist.

[widget]

How does going stag show up in the LGBTwhatever rainbow?

[jesse.in.mb]

While King was out of the country as minister to France:

I am now "solitary and alone," having no companion in the house with me. I have gone a wooing to several gentlemen, but have not succeeded with any one of them. I feel that it is not good for man to be alone; and should not be astonished to find myself married to some old maid who can nurse me when I am sick, provide good dinners for me when I am well, and not expect from me any very ardent or romantic affection.

Not. Gay. At. All.

[Restoras]

The late 19th century equivalent of Quagmire's dad.

[Winston]

I suppose he could have meant wooing in a non-sexual way, as in a way to get a roommate, but I don't know.

[creech]

Buck was engaged to Ann Coleman. She dropped him, and committed suicide, when she thought he was sleeping with his friend's sister. Buck kept her portrait in his house, Wheatland, until the day he died, still a bachelor.

[SugarFree]

I'm not sure Michelle was born with a penis, but I bet you the OB did a double take.

[Paul.]

Why would anyone stop to ask Joan Rivers what she thinks the political landscape will look like in the indefinite future?

[Palin's Buttplug]

Corn's slump may worsen once the harvest starts. In separate reports, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said June 23 that prices will drop to $4 in six months, while Rabobank International said July 1 the grain will average $4.07 in the fourth quarter. Dan Basse, the president of AgResources Co. in Chicago, predicted a drop as low as $3.50.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/.....slide.html

But corn was $7.50 when this inflation started!

[Weigel's Cock Ring]

Yes, it's a lot cheaper to engage in my favorite pastime of shoving corncobs up my gaping worn out bunghole these days.

[DaveSs]

Drought in corn belt is over

Because of the same drought, there are fewer live beef critters to eat the corn.

Naturally, with increased supply, and reduced demand the price will go down.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Yeah, it is that supply/demand thing.

But the Peanut Gallery here thinks THE FED! is causing hyper-inflation and it is all about the money supply.

[Paul.]

Big brands are selling smaller products for the same price and one of the many consumers noticing the differences and alerting others is not even enough to drive. Jared Goodman, 13, is half-teenager, half shopping sleuth.
"I usually feel cheated because I'm paying the same price for less of an item," Goodman told ABC News. "I usually look for labels that say 'new and improved.' Because that probably means the product's been downsized."
Goodman is part of a growing army of shoppers who are fed up with what's called "downsizing." Consumers from all over the country send their tips to Edgar Dworsky, the founder of ConsumerWorld.org, who posts the findings online.
"[Downsizing is] very common," Dworsky said. "It's been going on for years, but there seems to be a surge right now."

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/li.....-for-less/

See? Prices aren't going up, your packages are just getting much, much smaller.

[Mad Scientist]

Sure, but they make my hands look bigger!

[Palin's Buttplug]

Advice - shop at Costco.

[Brandon]

Economics, how does it work?

[OldMexican]

Re: Peter Caca,

But corn was $7.50 when this inflation started!

And 32" Tee Vees were 800 bucks in 2006! Now they're $250 when on sale! Where's the inflation? Huh? HUH?

Hey, idiot. Inflation = the rapid increase in the money supply, not just "higher prices". There has always been inflation since the Fed started. The fact that some prices go down during downturns does not mean anything.

[Gene]

Roger Waters, who left the group in 1985, is not involved.

I still haven't forgave him for "The Final Cut", pretty sure he's a commie like his old man.

[Lord Peter Wimsey]

Yep. A millionaire commie who loves the Palestinians. Still, none of this is a worse offense than THE PROS AND CONS OF HITCHHIKING. For that he can never be forgiven.

[Winston]

I'm waiting for a Matt Welch article on the libertarianess of Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson. It was under their watch that Prohibition and Segregation ended and they weren't communists so...

[Palin's Buttplug]

I thought everyone had agreed that Jimmy Carter was the most libertarian POTUS in modern US history.

[Cytotoxic]

We agreed that you're retarded, for sure.

[Palin's Buttplug]

I know, your Team Red alliance prevents you from admitting the above.

Gillespie didn't sign off on that though.

[Cytotoxic]

Random words random words random words buzzphrase

[KDN]

Random words random words random words buzzphrase

You forgot "logical fallacy."

[Palin's Buttplug]

I know, you have to be a war-loving dick-swinging Republican to be the most libertarian POTUS.

I forgot where I was for a moment.

[Trouser-Pod]

Wow!!

[Suthenboy]

Thats right. Carter was a libertarian. And Obumbles is an ardent defender of the second amendment.

[Sudden]

I'll have no problem recognizing his only two libertarian legislative accomplishments: airline deregulation and homebrewing legalization.

But two accomplishments does not a libertarian make.

[PapayaSF]

Trucking deregulation.

[CatoTheElder]

Carter was in many ways a doofus, and PB is wrong on just about everything, but Jimmuh has more libertarian points than any President since, oh, Grover Cleveland. These include:

- appointed Paul Volker to the Fed (1 libertarian point)
- gas deregulation (1 point)
- trucking deregulation (2 points)
- air transport deregulation (2 points)
- legalization of homebrew beer (3 points)
- moderation in the WOD (maybe 1/2 libertarian point for that)

Reagan talked a good game, and did deregulate oil and reduce marginal FIT rates, but his heart was in bringing down the Soviet Empire. Between those three accomplishments, he's tied with Carter, but negative points for the WOD, FICA tax hike, and 21 yo drinking age hurt his ranking.

[Weigel's Cock Ring]

Obama is the bestest and most libertarianest president ever because I can now legally marry my boyfriend Matt Yglesias in 57 states (number approximate).

[The Tone Police]

He did directly say it was akin to being the tallest midget. I know, I know, it's not fair to expect reading comprehension from the retarded, but at least we treat you like real people.

[Winston]

He did directly say it was akin to being the tallest midget.

And this is different from what I said about FDR and LBJ how?

[Christophe]

Well, they're closer to the shortest midgets in the 1900-Now time period, for almost any reasonable measuring scale.

FFS, FDR put people in camps, confiscated gold, and nationalized large parts of the economy.

LBJ: Great Society. Done.

From a libertarian perspective, maybe Wilson was worse, and maybe Nixon. That's about it.

[Winston]

almost any reasonable measuring scale.

If you are going to defend Obama for his "benign neglect" in the Drug War than why ignore FDR's role in ending prohibition?

And why ignore LBJ's role in desegregation since segregation was such a great evil?

Seems he is judging Obama by standards he does not apply to others.

[db]

Pink Floyd is releasing a new album. Dim the lights, take a hit, and try synchronizing it with some classic cinema until you blow your own mind.

What's funny is last week I just took delivery of Discovery, PF's box set including all the studio albums remastered. I said to myself, "well, this is almost certainly the last Pink Floyd I'll ever have to buy."

[GILMORE]

re-mastered?

Christ, havent they done that like a half dozen times since the birth of the CD?

For fucks' sake = PF is like the only band that uses any excuse in the universe to re-sell their old records by claiming, "NOW IN 24bit/128hz 360-degree Blue-Ray Quadrodimensional Pan-Harmonic Trigendered Mp4 dual-layered crystal-vibrophonic!

It would be just as effective to just take the old record, and use better drugs when listening to it.

[db]

I didn't have all the original albums (an old GF many years ago did) and I decided to wait until a big box set came out rather than buy them one at a time.

So far what I have listened to is amazingly clean. I am not a Humungus-level audiophile, but there is a clear difference to me between the several older ones I had and this set. Hence, I'll never need any.more Floyd. Unless this.new disc defies logic and is good.

[Pro Libertate]

I have a cunning plan. Demastered CDs. Releasing songs previously released with all of the digital enhancements and corrections removed. Jesus, I am going to be so rich.

[db]

All it takes is a used CD story, some steel wool, and an old reel-to-reel tape recorder so you can say truthfully "restored from magnetic tape."

[Pro Libertate]

The original masters (or copies of them) are out there for quite a bit of old music, so we just need those. Direct to CD.

[SweatingGin]

How does Meddle sound on it? I'm not not thinking about replacing my copy...

(actually kind of waiting to see if I can get a lossless, greater than 44k version of it).

[GILMORE]

Buy it on vinyl for $2, dumbass.

You think the original master is so "hi-fidelity" that you need the frequency range of 24/96 to capture it all?

You know how that shit works, right?

[SweatingGin]

I'm not stepping down the vinyl road right now. I know where it leads. (madness, with work turntables, different ones for different music, different needles, pre-amps, etc)

And yea, I know how sample rate covers the range of frequencies that can be reproduced.

That said, the couple of lossless albums I have sound *awesome*

[Pro Libertate]

Why vinyl, anyway? Vinyl is cheap shit. I buy my LPs in the original leather.

[db]

I prefer the old Bakelite (or whatever that crazy red brittle disc material was) 78's, myself.

[Pro Libertate]

I thought 78 was just so you could play 45s fast. And 33s faster. I bet kids today have no idea how Alvin and the Chipmunks got started.

[db]

No, 33 is so your 78s sound like HAL singing "Daisy."

[Pro Libertate]

That, too.

[GILMORE]

Recommending vinyl /= going full audiotarded

its just the cheapest, best sounding way to listen to old music whose digital reproductions have spent 40 years trying to be 'as good as'.

I think superaudiophile stuff is stupid for anything other than classical and jazz anyway.

[Mad Scientist]

This is going to sound superaudiophile retarded but....

The VPI record vacuum (yes, it's a vacuum cleaner for vinyl) is a wonderful thing. Really surprisingly wonderful. It does amazing things with 50 and 60 year old records.

[db]

I haven't listened to Meddle yet. I spent a few hours yesterday ripping FLACs and mp3s from all the discs except the most recent. I'll get to Division Bell eventually.

[GILMORE]

Meddle is actually their best "really high on drugs" record IMHO.

[jesse.in.mb]

Those grapes be sour, yo.

Aid that comes tied with demands for fair treatment of homosexuals is "unreligious" and "sinful", and Africans do not need handouts if they "stop sleeping and work", Uganda's president has said.
[...]
"Uganda does not need aid," he said. "Uganda is so rich, we should be the ones to give aid. The only thing we need from the world is trade, if they can buy our products. Aid becomes important only when people are asleep."

The only thing that Africans "do well", the 69-year-old president said, was "multiply and fill the Earth", while not working hard to ensure productivity to feed all the continent's people. That, he said, was what led to reliance on aid.
[...]
"In his speech he made clear that Uganda can be self-reliant, and the aid cuts have woken us up and invigorated us. The president has always opposed aid, from the beginning."

Uganda has always been at war with Eastasia!

A few thoughts:
1) This Museveni person sounds like a RAAAACIST!
2) Good. In the immortal words of The Teletubbies "AGAIN! AGAIN!" Let's cut more aid and see if world leaders decide to tell their people to stop being lazy and reliant on foreign aid. I nominate Sudan for the next round of experimentation. They've been particularly dickish on religious freedom, no?

[Cytotoxic]

Foreign aid is very negative for recipient countries. I wouldn't be surprised if Uganda's anti-gay law coincides with improvements in various parameters of Uganda because of the cut-off in aid it triggered.

[sarcasmic]

foreign aid: taking money from poor people in rich countries and giving it to rich people in poor countries

[Raven Nation]

Oh, that's very good.

Also:

We call our governments vampire states, which suck the economic vitality out of the people

George Ayittey
Ghanian economist

[cavalier973]

+1 Ron Paul

[ant1sthenes]

"The only thing that Africans "do well", the 69-year-old president said, was "multiply and fill the Earth", while not working hard to ensure productivity to feed all the continent's people."

I can see the new Buzzfeed quiz now. "Who said it? An African president or Grand Wizard of the KKK?"

[jesse.in.mb]

I can see the new Buzzfeed quiz now. "Who said it? An African president or Grand Wizard of the KKK?"

The quiz you propose would be racist, or meta-racist or something. Why are you using your white privilege to criticize African leaders *mumble mumble* colonialism *flails hands*!

[Tonio]

Brave talk, Museveni. Let's see you live up to those brave words by returning our foreign aid for the current fiscal year, pro-rated if you must, and refusing all future aid.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"Can Catholicism and Libertarianism Co-Exist?" a non-libertarian conservative Catholic ruminates on the topic

http://www.theimaginativeconse.....exist.html

[Cytotoxic]

No.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Not if you abort babies in the 4th and 5th trimester, they can't coexist. But I don't think that's the consensus libertarian position.

[Cytotoxic]

I was thinking of the socialist who is currently Pope.

[The Last American Hero]

Catholics could thrive in a libertarian environment - NAP, more modest foreign policy, lower tax rates enabling more charity. If the Vatican ever got back into setting up theocracies, libertarians would probably not be too happy.

[Tonio]

Nope.

[Mark22]

Sure they can coexist. Nothing in Catholicism requires specific political action in principle. What can't coexist is the current venal, hypocritical, and corrupt Catholic church hierarchy.

[jesse.in.mb]

Meanwhile in Iran: Haft Sang, the nearly shot-by-shot remake of Modern Family where the sexes of characters have been changed to protect viewers from pre-marital sex mixing and homosexuality.

Please tell me there's an all straight male version of Ugly Betty somewhere.

[Warty]

It'll probably be unintentionally subversive in some way. At miniumum, Iranians aren't stupid, they'll realize they're being shown a neutered copy of the real shitty show. Also, Persian Ed O'Neill is all wrong.

[Palin's Buttplug]

The U.S. will remain the world's biggest oil producer this year after overtaking Saudi Arabia and Russia as extraction of energy from shale rock spurs the nation's economic recovery, Bank of America Corp. said.

U.S. production of crude oil, along with liquids separated from natural gas, surpassed all other countries this year with daily output exceeding 11 million barrels in the first quarter, the bank said in a report today. The country became the world's largest natural gas producer in 2010. The International Energy Agency said in June that the U.S. was the biggest producer of oil and natural gas liquids.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/.....QAP8LQtDMD

What? Can't be. Obama won't let us drill here!

[Cytotoxic]

Won't let us drill on public land, that's for sure.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Wrong. Production on federal land has increased every year since 2008. (Table 1)

http://energycommerce.house.go.....report.pdf

[Paul.]

From your own link:

On federal lands, there was an
increase in production from FY2008-FY2009 and another increase in FY2010, but then declines
in FY2011 and FY2012, which brought production below FY2007 production levels

[Palin's Buttplug]

Look at the table. On the right hand side see federal LAND - rising every year.

For federal OFF SHORE production peaked at 1.6 just before the BP spill but still higher than 2008 - a big year.

[GILMORE]

8% MORE

[Cytotoxic]

The onshore increase is much smaller than the offshore decrease. Math is clear: you lose.

[Palin's Buttplug]

The total is higher before the BP spill and today (than in 2008).

[Cytotoxic]

And still less than 2007 you cherry-picking POS. See, Tonio, that's cherry-picking.

[Wasteland Wanderer]

You'd have thought the moron would have learned by now to make sure his sources say what he says they say, but nope.

[OldMexican]

Re: Peter Caca,

The U.S. will remain the world's biggest oil producer this year [...]

"... once more demonstrating that American entrepreneurial spirit and know-how can beat even the best-laid anti-capitalist plans from the 'you didn't build that' crowd."

There. More to the real point.

[jesse.in.mb]

Thrillist: Every State in the USA, ranked by its food/drink

There's something in here for everyone to be upset about. I like that they're butthurt that CA ranks so highly, and am annoyed at how poorly they ranked Utah where I had beers at several good breweries, great sushi (although my friend ordered a roll with escolar which freaked me out a bit), Belgian food, and surprisingly delicious fried pickles on the roof of the Temple visitor center. Oh and the Red Iguana had great, and regionally distinct from what I'm used to getting in LA, Mexican food.

[Warty]

Alternate title: 50 Ways to be Fat

[Mad Scientist]

I'll second Sacramento's Squeeze In. Their burgers are delicious, and they even have a box of Dolphin Helper next to the cash register.

[Monkey's Uncle]

I have had a bad experience with escolar. Your warning should be well heeded.

[Suthenboy]

The Ex-Lax fish.

Feeding someone that stuff is easier than sneaking Ex-Lax into their hot chocolate.

[Sudden]

I once had escolar the night before a company christmas party featuring an open bar.

Tastiest fish on the planet.

But the problem was that I drank a number of drinks, spanning the whole range of alcohol groups, and the next morning when I went to the bathroom and my ass started oozing out some combination of italian dressing and carrot juice, I was legitimately concerned that my liver had given out and imminent death awaited. After googling oily orange stool while sitting in the airport men's room fearing for my life, I realized I would be ok.

[jesse.in.mb]

Yeah it was delicious, but I'm glad I split a roll of it with my friend instead of having it as a main attraction. She wanted to order more, but I made her read something on potential side effects and we made different choices.

The stuff sounds like it has the same effects as those Alli pills people were taking 6 or 7 years ago.

[Pro Libertate]

That's a fucking retarded list. I mean, Minnesota ahead of Florida? What, for pickled herring?

[Dances-with-Trolls]

Oh, bullshit. Oregon should be #1 on craft beer alone. I call shenanigans.

[Sudden]

Oregon's got a great craft scene, but because of the hipster localism, most of it remains there or at least only regionally available. Deschuttes and Rogue have a pretty wide presence, but Hair of the Dog and Ninkasi I think have a limited selection available outside of OR and even then it only reaches western states. `

[Sudden]

If you're into Belgian food, you should try the place called Little Bear in the DTLA Art's District. Hell, it's even named like a quintessential gay bar.

[jesse.in.mb]

Oh, I've been to Church & State right across the street. That definitely looks worth checking out, although now I'll be disappointed when the wait-staff isn't all 20-something, scruffy, gay men.

[Sudden]

I've been meaning to try Church & State but haven't made it there yet.

I was happy to see Animal listed on the list you linked as I ate there a few weeks ago. (had the Pig Ear, Marrow, Oxtail Poutine, and Fried Rabbit Leg).

[jesse.in.mb]

I can't remember if I liked Church & State anymore. It's been several years.

I spent a few years refusing to go anywhere remotely fancy in LA after I had dinner at The Gorbals and spent way too much money on a ceasar salad that consisted of a few limp pieces of "grilled" romaine with some anchovy and parm grated on top.

Although I am willing to sink inordinate amounts of cash at The Edison, but that's because they used to have great Black Friday parties.

[Sudden]

I've never heard a glowing review from anyone about Gorbals in person and yet it gets glowing reviews on yelp. Haven't eaten there myself. Boggles the mind.

[lap83]

"23. Minnesota
Surly's was at the forefront of a damn fine brewing scene, but really this ranking is about the glorious innovation that is the Juicy Lucy. Any chump can melt cheese ON a burger, but it takes vision to put it INSIDE the burger. For such achievements you get a pass on that suspect-looking hot dish stuff."

Ooh timely stuff. Did they base these rankings on 20 year old stereotypes?

[Winston]

Pink Floyd is 50 years old, older than the big band music and the crooners than the rockers and heavy metal guys were reacting against in the 50s, 60s and 70s.

[Pro Libertate]

When I was a kid, my brother and I used to joke about being retired and watching The David Lee Roth Show. Just like The Lawrence Welk Show, except with Diamond Dave.

[db]

I would totally sit around in my depends and watch that.

[db]

The theme music when he walks on stage: Somebody Get Me a Doctor

[Pro Libertate]

"Might as well. . .oh, I'd better not. Edward, can you have one of the youngsters jump for me? Anna one, anna two. . . ."

[db]

You know what the best thing about the baby boomers getting old is? The girls who used to piss themselves over the Beatles are pissing themselves over nothing now.

[Tonio]

I'm stealing that. But it's funnier when you say "...still pissing themselves over the Beatles."

[JW]

You could always take old recordings of Lawrence Welk and play Van Halen over it.

Even though I grew up with Lawrence Welk (and fucking hating it when I had to visit my grandmother) you have to look back at just how fucking odd it was. "You watch old people dancing to polka rehash with a live band? On TV? With bubbles blown into the air? Yeah, whatever weirdo."

[Winston]

So how is a Rolling Stones concert that much different than Lawrence Welk?

[Pro Libertate]

I, too, had to endure that show at my grandparents' house. They also watched Hee-Haw. Trying times, with them only having four channels. Kids today have no idea about true hardship.

[jesse.in.mb]

You had TV growing up?

[Pro Libertate]

Yes, even in Technicolor!

I had a black and white set in my bedroom, which was a fairly big deal--most of my friends, even the more affluent ones, had to watch the one in the living room.

[Libertymike]

The FBI, in color! Do you remember the opening?

[Mad Scientist]

Holy crap, Hee Haw. My dad used to watch that.

[Trouser-Pod]

Hey, now. At least HH had goofy jokes and hot women.

And, some rather talented musicians, too.

[Suthenboy]

Yeah, Roy Clark was a real talent.

I distinctly remember watching the episode where Slim Pickins was a guest host.

[db]

I loved Hee Haw as little kid. My parents rolled their eyes, but they usually let me watch it.

[JW]

Yep. Hee-haw too.

When I would come down to DC to visit my other grandmother, I was amazed at how they had 8 or 9 channels, including the Baltimore channels! And the Metromedia channels had this show, this amazing show, called Wonderama!

Then I would go back home and watch Ma and Pa Kettle shorts.

[Pro Libertate]

Mein gott!

We got cable fairly early--around 1976 or so, which was like a miracle for a while. We'd go back and forth with the premium channels, though there was a time where an index card inserted in a cable box could unlock everything. For reals.

[Trouser-Pod]

Yeah, even now we pay good money for cable channels, one of which gives me access to Hee Haw. I partake every now and then.

[Andrew S.]

That time went into the early 90s, at least. I cannot confirm nor deny that we had a cable box like that in the early 90s, nor can I confirm or deny that teenage me used that cable box to unscramble the Playboy Channel.

[db]

We had three (3) channels growing up. There was one UHF station that barely came in but it never.had.anything good except the Beverly Hillbillies reruns after school. And Inspector Gadget.

[Trouser-Pod]

I think we had between 6-8 channels as I was growing up.

Shit. However did we survive?

[Winston]

Hmm, I read that Barbara Stanwyck was a big fan of Ayn Rand, including Atlas Shrugged. A poor New York Irish orphaned girl becomes a Hollywood star and ends up being a Rand fan? Unpossible. Must have been Coolidge's mind control rays. I wonder how long it will take for the Hollywood Left to unperson their icons for holding improper views?

Also has anyone compared King Vidor's Our Daily Bread to his film of The Fountainhead?

[Pro Libertate]

The Big Valley was actually an Objectivist philosophy delivery system.

[Libertymike]

You guys know that ole Barb was a Masshole, right?

Nevertheless, even in the black and whites, she makes my knees buckle.

Double Indemnity (1944) is one of the best moving pictures of all times. Edward G. Robinson's role in the movie was, in my opinion, his best performance and Barbara Stanwyck's role was one of her best performances.

[db]

Excellent film, that.

[PapayaSF]

She was also good in my favorite lesser-known holiday film, Christmas in Connecticut.

[Winston]

You guys know that ole Barb was a Masshole, right?

Her father was you mean.

[Paul.]

In Massachusetts, you get your citizenship from your father, no matter where you're born.

[widget]

Speaking of morality plays, I have to confess that I am a Festus from Gunsmoke. I'll go in the with the government to an extent, but never wholeheartedly.

Festus is no woman's dream companion as my wife will verify. But he's stable and generally OK. But Clint Eastwood is not going to fuck my wife, just to save the town! The beta-male conundrum.

[CE]

What about Newly? Gunsmith AND deputy.